


blood is thicker

by TheEbonHawk



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi - Fandom, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Family Reveal, Family Tragedy, Gen, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Related, Lightsaber Battles, Murder, Rey Solo, Skywalker Family Drama, Swearing, Violence, more tlj speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 10:45:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12910290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEbonHawk/pseuds/TheEbonHawk
Summary: your family ties won't save you.





	blood is thicker

The fight had been going on for some time, and Rey was tired. She was getting angrier, her attacks more fierce. She thought of the battle she’d seen in her vision, between Luke and Vader, her master and Kylo’s idol. She still didn’t understand why she’d seen it, why it’d looked so familiar. 

Maybe she’d seen her future. Maybe this was her destiny. 

Kylo didn’t fight like Vader. He was on the defense, not intending to kill, but he had to fight hard and aggressively to avoid death at Rey’s hand. She was not like Luke, either. She was still trying to end his life.

Finally, she had him against a wall. She struck, again and again, growling like a predator. 

His eyes were wide as he tried fruitlessly to block her and regain some advantage. He knew where this was going. 

He did manage to get himself off the wall, push her back a few steps into the center of the room. But she was in control. 

She made a hard downward strike and was blocked, then held the lock for a moment, catching her breath and incidentally allowing him to also do so. Her eyes bore into him with hatred, and he returned her glare with a cold, sad sort of acceptance. 

She was thinking about what she might be about to do. It would have been one thing to inadvertently make a killing blow, or to end it in anger or self-defense. But she was contemplating murder. The dark little voice in her head was egging her on, and she was considering it.

Would it be wrong? Did she care? Was it worth it?

Could she forgive herself? 

She thought about the torture. 

She thought about captivity and stasis and fear and she thought about Starkiller base and millions of deaths. She thought about Finn. She thought about Han Solo, and the ache in her heart when she did sealed it.

She bared her teeth, feinted, then turned her blade and struck. She buried her brand new lightsaber deep within his chest.

The blade slid into him so easily, and that scared her more than anything. He gasped, his lightsaber falling to the ground. His body soon followed, knees striking the floor. 

He looked at her in shock, despite her intentions being clear from the start. 

He grabbed her, and she thought he was attacking her again, but he just pulled her down, sort of leaned against her, and wrapped his arms loosely around her back. A hug.

She was paralyzed for a moment, then threw him on the ground, jumping up to her feet. “What are you doing?” she screamed.

He cried out in pain as he hit the floor and caught his breath, not answering but staring up at her in surprise. Just surprise, no anger, no hate, not even much that could be taken for sadness. Tears began to leak from the corners of his eyes, and it could have been pain from the fatal wound, but Rey either didn’t think of the obvious or instinctively knew better. 

“Why are you crying?” she demanded, as if he was committing a crime. 

He took a deep, shaky breath, shivering.  “Nothing. It’s nothing.” He sat up on his elbow, his other arm wrapped around his chest. Every breath was an effort now, and she could see in his eyes that he was fading, that he knew it. 

He smiled at her. “Good job, sis. I always knew you'd be stronger than me.”

Rey blinked at him, unable, unwilling to comprehend what he was saying. “What?” She knelt in front of him, glaring down at him as he continued to die. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He frowned, reaching hesitantly to touch her cheek. She pulled away and he accepted it. “You’re my sister, Rey. Haven’t you figured it out?”

Something like a dam broke inside her mind, and she felt like her head was splitting. She covered her face and forced it back together. “Shut up. You’re a fucking liar.”

He laughed. “Okay, I’m sorry. I know it’s hard.” He took another deep breath, this one even more difficult. He was almost gone. “It’s not as if it was worth anything anyway.”

She steeled herself, then uncovered her face and looked at him. For a moment she just stared, finding tiny details in his face that were familiar. Realising he looked like Han and feeling the ache again. Realising the ache was about him, too. “I know.” Her voice was almost a whisper. 

“I know. I could feel it. I should have realised.”

She moved a fraction closer, and instinctively he raised his hand again, then stopped, looking to her for permission. She gave a tiny nod, and he rested his hand on her cheek, his gloved fingers around the back of her head and in her hair, looking into her eyes. “It’s not your fault. You were protecting yourself.” 

She bit her lip. She felt him slipping away. 

He smiled again, sad, defeated. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Rey. I know I let you down, but I loved...” He stopped. Started again, forcing himself to be honest for once. “I love you.” 

After the effort of speaking, he leaned back, resting on the floor, letting his eyes close. There was silence for the last few moments as he breathed his last and quietly, with a tearing of her soul, drifted away.

Why she cared, she didn’t know. Blood or not, he’d been no brother to her; she hadn’t even known him. 

But part of her wished she had. She couldn’t help it; they were bonded, he was part of her. For better or worse, the ending hurt, like the removal of a thorn. 

She sat in the quiet for several minutes, turning his last words over in her head, wondering if they meant anything.  _ I love you.  _

Quietly, to his corpse, she afforded an answer before she left to find her mother. “I know.”


End file.
